Changing the way London does its dry cleaning and laundry

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Tag Archives: fabric softener

In previous posts we have talked about the natural cleaning qualities of lemon and vinegar, which help us take care of our laundry without harming the environment. Today we’ll talk about the special properties of baking soda – useful for more than just baking!

Thanks to its alkali qualities which raise the pH balance of water, adding 125 ml of baking soda to your washing machine’s rinse cycle will boost the detergent’s ingredients resulting in cleaner and whiter clothes. It will also act as a a deodoriser to remove unpleasant odours, and as a natural fabric softener – ideal for those that are sensitive to chemicals. You can combine the baking powder with warm water to create a paste which will help to remove grease and heavy tea and coffee stains. Simply rub the paste onto the stain and let it sit for an hour before washing the garment as normal.

Switch to baking soda, lemon juice and vinegar for a greener way to do laundry!

Not only is it great with chips, white wine vinegar makes an excellent alternative to commercially available fabric softeners! Standard fabric softeners work by coating your clothes with a layer of chemicals to reduce static and increase the smoothness of the fabric, but you can use vinegar to achieve the same effect in a low-cost, eco-friendly way.

Adding about 100ml of white vinegar to the rinse cycle will soften your laundry and remove soap and detergent residues. It also prevents yellowing on the clothes, attacks mildew and the acidity should help to reduce static on your clothes. The vinegar smell will disappear as the clothes go through rinse and drying cycle.

Harvey Nichols’ Knightsbridge store has been wrapped with a huge ball of wool yarn accompanied of knitting needles, to support this year’s Campaign for Wool. This innovative initiative has inspired us to look for ideas involving wool! While searching, I found a post at the household weblog “One Good Thing” by Jillee which suggests a very interesting use of wool yarns. Instead of using fabric softener, why not make wool balls and add some drops of essential oil to dry your laundry more efficiently, while giving the scent you want to your clothes.

How? It’s easy! Just wrap the wool yarn around your fingers around 20 times, remove quickly the strands off your fingers and wrap across the middle of those loops another 20 times. When it’s the size of a tennis ball, cut the yarn and tuck the end inside, making sure the ball won’t unravel! Put the ball inside a stocking, use a synthetic string to secure it and add the next balls. When ready, just wash them on high heat. Ready to give a fresh nice smell to your laundry?